Even with the recent change to the Richardson City Charter calling for direct election of the mayor, the powers of the office are the same. The mayor is one of seven council members, with the additional roles of being the presiding officer at council meetings and representing the city on ceremonial occasions.
After the jump, how Richardson's two candidates for mayor, Laura Maczka and Amir Omar, stack up against the duties of the office.
All five incumbent city council members, all running unopposed for re-election, have endorsed Laura Maczka for mayor. Using the United States or Texas House of Representatives or even the Richardson City Council up until this election as models, Laura Maczka is clearly the candidate the council wants to lead them as presiding officer in the next council's term.
The edge in representing the city at ceremonial occasions goes to Amir Omar. The man is everywhere. The man is tireless. He is the most widely traveled booster for Richardson of any council member in memory. Even the Richardson Coalition PAC, in its endorsement of Maczka, implicitly recognizes Omar's accomplishments in this area. Without naming him or admitting that it's his countless appearances as a member of Richardson's city council that brings recognition to him *and* his city, the Richardson Coalition PAC "note[s] with emphasis that Ms. Maczka's activities are not designed to bring recognition to her personally, but to highlight the City."
So, which is more important: presiding over council meetings or representing the city on ceremonial occasions? Your preference could determine your choice for mayor.
2 comments:
The majority of the council, Laura included, attends ALL public events that Amir attends. Not all of them tweet about it. The majority of the council, Laura included, in fact, stays until the end of the event to which they were invited rather than doing a "photo/tweet drive by."
They are all energetic and tirelessly dedicated to the offices to which they were elected. Most people don't realize the amount of time they spend either in meetings, representing the city at events, talking to citizens, and interfacing with residents and staff to handle issues and complaints.
I disagree that Amir has the advantage on energy and city representation.
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